Young hosts are a key ingredient for Food Network's success
Rachael Ray knew she had a strong audience on college campuses for her Food Network show ''30 Minute Meals" when she heard about the drinking game. ''Apparently, every time I say 'evoo,' for extra-virgin olive oil, everybody drinks," Ray said in a phone interview. ''When I say 'delish' or 'how cool is that?,' they're all worth different shots."
Ray is certainly the network's perkiest host, with three shows she is definitely one of its most popular, and at age 36 she is one of the youngest. When it comes to youth, she has plenty of company. A new 25-year-old star, Dave Lieberman, and a new reality show, ''The Next Food Network Star," are two ways the growing network is making a concerted effort to appeal to the coveted under-35 demographic.
''Our hosts are young, our subject matter is oftentimes young, and then there's our music and the way we package shows," said Kathleen Finch, senior vice president for prime-time programming. The network would not release detailed demographic information, but it says it beats any other ad-supported network in annual subscriber growth. As of April it was available in 87 million subscriber households, up by almost 3 million from a year ago. Viewers of its daytime ''In the Kitchen" block are largely women, Finch said, but its prime-time ratings are more evenly divided between the genders.
The network lost a young face when British chef Jamie Oliver ended his show to focus on his new restaurant and charity project, but Lieberman could be seen as his heir apparent. On ''Good Deal With Dave Lieberman," the Yale graduate and personal chef shows how to entertain on a budget. On a recent show, he was out on the town with his friends, then brought them back to his place for a late-night chocolate party. He's very unassuming in his delivery, and the set looks like a hip Manhattan kitchen.
Lieberman says he gets e-mails from fans of all ages, but he acknowledges the particular appeal to people his own age. And it's not just because he looks like them. ''It has to do with the kind of food and the message, which is that you can take common, inexpensive supermarket ingredients and make impressive food and have a good time with it," he said in an interview from Atlanta, where he is consulting with Delta's Song airline. ''The way I cook is easy to relate to. I try not to focus too much on getting wrapped up in the details but am about just sort of being casual and letting things happen, rolling with the punches." For most young people he knows, ''the everyday cooking thing is not realistic. It's aspirational. The reason and the chance to get into the kitchen is more of a special event: having friends over, or your mom and grandmom coming into town. That's what my show's about, and I think it's a unique message."
''Good Deal," which premiered last month, features relatively sophisticated camerawork, with lots of close-ups, angled shots, and movement. That's a hallmark of ''Everyday Italian," with Giada De Laurentiis, also one of the network's youngest hosts at age 34. The camera is just as likely to show a close-up of her hand reaching for tongs or scrubbing the countertop as slicing a shallot.
De Laurentiis, granddaughter of filmmaker Dino, celebrates the easy cooking of home-style Italian dishes she grew up with. She has quickly become such a popular host that the network is planning to feature her in another series, sending her behind the scenes to write about the cooking at such events as the Oscars and Emmys. ''Then she'll enjoy the party," said Finch.
Another popular, telegenic young host is Tyler Florence, also 34, who goes into viewers' homes for his ''Food 911" series and hosts ''How to Boil Water." For ''Food 911" the productions are stripped-down, emphasizing the fact that these are real home kitchens, not studio sets.
And then there's prime time. The hourlong slot at 8 p.m. is still ruled by ''Emeril Live," where Emeril Lagasse acts like a talk-show host with live music and plenty of audience interaction.
As Ray sees it, Lagasse shows that appealing to young people doesn't necessarily mean putting the youngest faces in front of the camera. ''Paula Deen is loud and funny and just joyous," she said. ''Mario [Batali] is a rock star -- he's got Bono on speed dial, for God's sake. And Emeril has the 'Bam!' and the bands."
Joe Yonan can be reached at yonan@globe.com.
